Red Hot Chili Peppers- Stadium Arcadium

As the band’s last album with guitarist John Frusicante, Stadium Arcadium is a pretty good listen for the most part. If you read this blog, you will probably see that I am a big fan of most of Frusciante’s work, and he leaves the band with one of his better performances on record. Anthony Kiedis probably sounds better on this record then he has on any other as well. It goes without saying that Flea and Chad Smith are one of the best, if not THE best rhythm sections in contemporary rock music. In terms of the actual instrumental music, it is a very diverse album. There are elements of pretty much every style of music. Since it is the Chili Peppers, there is definitely a funk influence on some of the songs, along with even some punk undertones. Branching out a bit, there is even a bit of jazz thrown in for good measure, along with the straight forward rock music.

As good as the actual music is, the place where this album comes up lacking a bit is the lyrics. Over his career, Kiedis has pretty much touched on every subject, and it seems that he is running a little dry when it comes to ideas. Don’t get me wrong, the lyrics on this album is still better than many other records released over the last few years, however it seems to evoke a “been there, done that” feeling for the listener. I mean how many songs about California can a person take before it becomes overload?

For a man who once wrote “Party on Your P**sy”, some of the lyrics on the album are almost touching (see: Hard to Concentrate). It shows that Kiedis has matured; of course he is now in his 40s, so you would hope that’s the case. The songs about relationships on the album are probably its lyrical highpoint since its shows his evolution as a writer, but other than that, the lyrics are pedestrian. They just don’t seem as personal as some of his other lyrics, which has been the case in the past.

To me, the best part about this album is the contribution from John Frusicante on guitar/backing vocals. Over the years, his approach to playing guitar has changed, and on this record he goes a little crazy. He has never really been big on solos, but that’s thrown out the window here, as at the end of Dani California (the first track) there is a minute long solo heavy on effects by the end. Throughout the album, he contributes numerous solos which show off the fact that when Frusicante wants to, he can truly carry a record. Not to be forgotten is his backing vocals. It’s interesting to hear his improvement in that regard since re-joining the band in 1998. He seems much more confident and the vocals add depth to many songs.

The album was a bunch of Grammys and it was pretty deserving of them. It’s not the Chili Peppers best album, but it has flashes of greatness and for me was one of the better albums of 2006.

Grade---B+